Copyright by Benjamin Griffin 2018 The Dissertation Committee for Benjamin Griffin Certifies that this is the approved version of the following Dissertation: The Good Guys Win: Ronald Reagan, Fiction, and the Transformation of National Security Committee: Jeremi Suri, Supervisor Mark Lawrence H.W Brands William Inboden James Wilson The Good Guys Win: Ronald Reagan, Fiction, and the Transformation of National Security by Benjamin Griffin Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2018 Dedication To Amibeth, Natalie, and Patrick. Thank you for your continued love and support. None of this would be possible without you all. Acknowledgements I owe a significant debt to my advisors on this paper, Jeremi Suri, Mark Lawrence, William Inboden, H.W. Brands and James Graham Wilson. They assistance and direction throughout the project and without their time and advice it would approach its present form or quality. The Clements Center for National Security very graciously funded several research trips and provided significant assistance in arranging interviews. I was exceptionally lucky to arrive at Texas as they began operations and look forward to seeing more of their excellent work. My colleagues in the History Department at the United States Military Academy offered invaluable assistance. In particular, the leadership of Colonel Ty Seidule, Colonel Gail Yoshitani, and Lieutenant Colonel Sean Sculley allowed me the time and freedom to do both my professional duties and work on this research project in addition to providing substantive feedback on my ideas and writing. Dr. Amanda Boczar, Dr. Samuel Watson, Dr. Robert McDonald, Major Rory McGovern, and Major Greg Hope, among many others offered substantive feedback throughout. Thank you also to my University of Texas colleagues, including Carl Forsberg, Emily Whalen, Captain James Martin for feedback and help throughout. I am deeply grateful to the officials and authors who took time to share their personal experience with me. Lord Charles Powell of Bayswater, Secretary Colin Powell, Secretary Thomas Reed, Ambassador Jack Matlock, Ambassador Charles Hill, Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Dr. Jerry Pournelle, Larry Bond, Chris Carlson, and Larry Niven all greatly improved this project with their recollections. Sadly, Dr. Pournelle passed away shortly after speaking with me. Thank you also to John Scalzi for pointing me in the right direction with regards to the split in the SFFWA. v Abstract The Good Guys Win: Ronald Reagan, Fiction, and the Transformation of National Security Benjamin Griffin, PhD The University of Texas at Austin, 2018 Supervisor: Jeremi Suri The dissertation examines how Ronald Reagan made use of fiction in developing his world view and grand strategy. It argues his use of narrative played an essential role in shaping his vision and in how he communicated with the American public. In particular, the works of Tom Clancy, westerns, and science-fiction novels provided synthetic experiences and creative space that helped Reagan contextualize information and imagine the near-future. Fiction also helped Reagan develop empathy for peoples behind the Iron Curtain leading to a nuanced policy that clearly distinguished the people from their government. The creativity and imagination of Reagan’s vision caused him to break with orthodox conservative positions and hastened the end of the Cold War. The dissertation will also examine how Reagan’s use of fiction proved damaging in the developing world as his narrow reading reinforced tropes and stereotypes leading to ineffective policies that contributed to great suffering in Latin America, South Africa, and the Middle East. The dissertation argues that policy makers read a broad amount of fiction from diverse sources and actively seek to incorporate it into their strategies. vi Table of Contents Introduction: Strategic Culture ..........................................................................................01 Chapter 1 Vagrant Martians: Reagan and the Power of Narrative ....................................23 Chapter 2 Friendly Witness: Politics, Belief, and Narratives ............................................67 Chapter 3 Cowboy Values: Fighting the Right Way .......................................................109 Chapter 4 Up from the Depths: The Means and the Will ................................................152 Chapter 5 Techno-Thriller Rising: Conventional Balance and Nuclear Abolition..........211 Chapter 6 Pebbles from Space: SDI, Cultural Division, and Strategic Success ..............284 Conclusion: Why Fiction Matters ....................................................................................330 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................351 vii Introduction: Strategic Culture Americans watching Saturday Night Live on December 6, 1986, saw rookie cast member Phil Hartman portray Ronald Reagan for the first time. The sketch opens with an apparently senile president discussing the unfolding Iran-Contra scandal with a reporter. The reporter noted she was unsure what was worse, Reagan knowing or not knowing about the crisis. Hartman gradually ushers her from the oval office, saying he hopes he was informative “given the very little that I know.”1 When the reporter leaves, Hartman’s Reagan transforms. The president no longer shakes and stands straighter, and an expression of angry calculation replaces the previous grandfatherly confusion. He assembled his staff and described a master plan to continue supporting the Contras. When Caspar Weinberger, played by Jon Lovitz, asked Reagan to slow down since “there’s still a lot about the Iran-Contra affair” he did not understand the president berates him. Hartman shouted, “You don’t need to understand! I am the President, only I need to understand and later quotes Montesquieu on the danger of sharing knowledge.2 Over the remainder of the skit, Reagan does complex financial calculations without the aid of a calculator, concludes a weapons deal with Iraqis while speaking Arabic, and talks with bankers in German. His staff looks on befuddled before eventually falling asleep as the president works through the night. 1 “President Reagan: Mastermind,” Saturday Night Live, NBC December 6, 1986. 2 Ibid. 1 Hartman played Reagan again in a 1987 sketch centering on Gorbachev’s visit to Washington DC for the signing of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. The Reagan of the sketch was clueless and rather than describe the historical significance of landmarks in the capital, discussed their use in movies. At one point, Hartman’s Reagan offered to take Danny DeVito’s Gorbachev into the war room of the Pentagon, before the Marine driver tells the president that the Soviet leader would not be allowed. Reagan noted that he had never been in the war room, but if there was a war someone would “evidently” take him there.3 The final site on the tour was the UFO landing site from the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Reagan points to the location where the alien robot Gort stood, prompting Gorbachev to respond with “Klaatu barada nikto,” a famous line from the climax of the movie.4 Although included in the skit as a joke, the movie was one that Reagan was both fond of and one that shaped his world view. Historian Sean Willentz notes in The Age of Reagan the president often spoke of the movie and it contributed to the “global humanitarian vision” of Reaganism.5 The two sketches touched on central questions about the Reagan administration. Though personally popular, Reagan and his White House remained enigmatic to many Americans. Hartman’s first outing asked who was in charge of the administration. Bureaucratic chaos and personal rivalries played out publicly throughout Reagan’s time in office lending the impression that the administration lacked a strong leader. Tell-all 3 “President Reagan Gives Gorbachev a Tour of Washington D.C.” Saturday Night Live, 5 December 1987. 4 Ibid 5 Sean Wilentz, The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008, (New York: Harper Books, 2008), 138. 2 books by disgruntled former aides and administration officials contributed to the public image of the president as an amiable figurehead that was out of his depth on policy issues. David Stockman, Reagan’s first director of the Office of Management and Budget and architect of the administration’s early budget cuts, released the first of these, entitled The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed, in 1986. He describes how those around Reagan “made him stumble into the wrong camp,” and how the president “had no business trying to make a revolution” as he lacked the will to lead one.6 The book debuted in the top spot on The New York Times non-fiction bestseller’s list and Stockman played a prominent role in a media blitz promoting the book and the failure of Reagan’s leadership.7 In its review of the book, The New York Times highlighted what it viewed as evidence that Reagan was not mentally capable of directing his administration. It noted that Stockman’s “Reagan stories are priceless.”8 The book repeatedly demonstrates the president sitting silently in meetings until the mention of a magic word, like ‘welfare’ or ‘Medicare,’ caused him to launch into an anecdote. For Stockdale and The New York Times these stories and jokes showed